


Angel Wings

by cyber_phobia



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Attempted Sabotage, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Happy Memories, Manipulation, Sabotage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 11:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17203025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyber_phobia/pseuds/cyber_phobia
Summary: Choosing to sacrifice yourself is easy compared to being the one who has to pull the trigger.





	Angel Wings

_ “Hey Angel, you listening in? Angel?” _

_ “Yes… sorry.” _

_ “Nah, just wanted to talk to you anyways.” _

_ “Really?” _

_ “Of course.” _

You shifted the Jakobs sniper rifle in your arms uneasily. Something was wrong. The sick sense of dread was creeping in as you finally neared the Core with the other Vault Hunters. The BNK3R had been an unexpected surprise, but even after it’s destruction it caused you worry. Jack was putting a lot of effort into defending this place. Sure the Vault Key was there, but if his ever increasingly hostile ECHOs were anything to go by, this was something more personal. He was getting desperate.

_ “Hey Angel, why are you helping me- well, us.” _

_ “Pandora needs your help, it needs a hero like you.” _

“Angel… what  _ exactly _ is in here besides the vault key?” you asked hesitantly. “Me.” the response was instantaneous, but not enlightening. “Alright, but  _ why _ are you in here?” your expression turned worrisome “What are you doing in there?” One of the other Vault Hunters moved forward towards the voice recognition, the weird alien looking one, waiting for Angel’s instructions.

“The password is: I love you.”

_ “What’s life like for you? There’s no way you could actually be an AI.” _

_ “You… catch on very quick.” _

_ “Do you live on Pandora?” _

_ “Not exactly.” _

_ “Helios, then?” _

_ “It’s rather complicated.” _

With the voice modulator, the door was soon open. You were the first to enter, peering warily over your now raised gun “Angel?”

“Consider this your final warn-- no, consider this MY final warning. Turn around and I promise I'll make it quick. But I swear, you take one more step, every soul back in Sanctuary will die staring at their own lungs as I rip them from their chests.” Handsome Jack threatened viciously, all previous signs of arrogance wiped away.

_ “Hey Angel?” _

_ “Yes?” _

_ “Thank you.” _

“Jack acquired his Siren catalyst a long time ago. He kept her hidden from the world for years, but finally -- you will be able to set her free.” Angel continued speaking as if he didn’t exist at all. “Eridium alone could never charge the Vault Key. It needs a catalyst -- something to awaken its power. It needs... a Siren.” the elevator you had stepped into, which you would embarrassingly admit you did not notice was an elevator, let alone that it had begun moving, was starting to slow down.

“What are we doing here Angel?” your voice was starting to sound more forceful, your anxiousness getting the better of you. She seemed intent on ignoring your questions “I detect you're getting close. Hurry and reach me -- you must get the Vault Key and... deal with me.”  _ “Angel.” _ The elevator stopped.

“ Executing phase shift.” she spoke again “The Key is here, but…” the sense of dread you had was resurfacing the more she spoke. The ECHO she had been using since the first time she had spoken was fading as you and the Vault Hunters got closer. “To truly stop Jack from waking the Warrior, you cannot just steal the Vault Key -- you must destroy his catalyst.”

“You must destroy…”

The girl who has only been a repetitive video feed of a face on your ECHO, whose been the voice in your ear since the beginning of this mess, appeared. You looked over her form warily, it looked worn down. Hopeless. “...me.”

“ _ What. _ I did not do all of this just to  _ kill you! _ ” you burst out angrily. From the corner of your vision you saw the other Vault Hunters shift. You did not know if it was from discomfort or if they were preparing for a fight. Sad blue eyes stared at you “Jack's spent years pumping me full of Eridium, using me to charge his Key and manipulate his enemies.” you couldn’t tell if she was trying to make it seem like it would be worth it to do this, but all you could do was sit in your frustration as she spoke. “Destroying the Eridium injectors that keep me... alive... will stop the Key from charging. And it will end a lifetime of servitude. Now--” She was suddenly yanked back, away from you and the others.

“You get the hell away from MY DAUGHTER!” Jack yelled angrily, even as Angel screamed. You rushed forwards immediately to follow after her, not even waiting for the rest “What the hell are you doing?! ANGEL?!” He seethed, still out of view. You finally set eyes on the Core itself, the machine that was holding Angel in place. The Vault Key. “What the hell is this?” you said aloud, horrified. “Stopping you, you piece of--” Angel cuts herself off, though Jack responds anyway. “Rrgh -- language!”

“The Eridium injectors! Destroy them!” Angel shouted. The siren Vault Hunter was quick to raise her gun and aim at the injectors. “No!” You shouted, slapping the gun in her hands away from the injectors. This gave Jack the chance to raise shields over the mechanisms. “What are you doing?!” Angel looks at you desperately, hands raised but not touching the barrier around her. “You can’t be serious!” You’re sure Jack is watching your every move now “How is this the only way?!” “I’m-” “You were put in that machine, don’t you dare tell me you can’t be taken out!”

Angel looks so sad now, but it looks odd. No. Not sadness. Pity. The other Vault Hunters are wearing the same expression as they watched you, gun raised. “I’m sorry.” she speaks softly “There isn’t.”

You realize her odd pity was also bitter. She wanted to live, but knew she couldn’t. You let out an agonized laugh. “We’ve been through a lot of shit that we didn’t expect to live through, this isn’t much different.” Even as you talked, your gaze flicked all over the room for something,  _ anything _ .

“I’m sorry soldier.” Roland said through the ECHO. You could hear his gun firing in the background.

“No you’re not,” you spat harshly “You’ve been ready to do this since the beginning.” “Look, kid, we can’t let you risk everything for one person.” Lilith decided to put out unkindly. You threw your ECHO comm on the ground, cracking it against the hard floor.

“You, Vault Hunter.” Handsome Jack spoke up. Everyone in the room turned to face at least one of the screens. He pointed at you, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. “If you protect my baby girl- if you let her live, I’ll pay you more than anyone could give you on Pandora.” he said seriously, almost desperately. You sneered at him after only a moment of silence “I’m not doing  _ shit _ for you. She’s not dying, but she sure as hell isn’t staying here.” The CEO’s features darkened and you could see Angel’s pained expressions from the side of your vision. The first wave of loaderbots began materializing in The Core.

You lifted your gun to aim at whoever attacked first, the loaderbots or the Vault Hunters.

A sudden blow to the back of the head made you stagger and drop. You instinctively turned your body over to face whatever had hit you, your eyes met the blank mask of the assassin. On the ground, your ECHO still crackled, Lilith's voice filtering through. “Sorry kid, we can’t let you screw this up.”

Your ears rang and you let your head drop onto the ground with gritted teeth. Consciousness wavered for who knows how long, the sounds of guns firing and going off reaching your ears at random intervals. You were sure that the loaderbots had stepped over you a couple of times. In a moment of clarity, you gripped the gun that still lay in your hands, somehow never being knocked out of your grasp while you were incapacitated. You shakily raised the gun towards a panel on the side of one of the Hyperion made constructors. With a deep breath, your arm steadied and your finger pulled the trigger.

The shot almost missed, nicking the panel only just enough to do what you wanted. The constructor began materializing more loaderbots, faster than it should have now that the regulator had been damaged. Loaderbots seemed to stream from the constructor now. You did not get the chance to see if they had overpowered the other Vault Hunters as your awareness finally failed you.

-

When you awoke, it was silent. You were afraid to open your eyes. When you did, you wished you had kept them closed and just lied there for eternity. The sparking and scattered pieces of loaderbots littered the room, the gun arm of one of them had fallen on you sometime after its destruction. Picking yourself up with shaky limbs, you scanned what was left of the room.

Angel’s body laid limpy against what used to be The Core, Eridium pools surrounding the structure. You hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye. The corpse of Roland lay not much farther.

These thoughts plagued you as you stared at the broken figure of what used to be Handsome Jack. He was still alive, but barely. The Vault Hunters had left him to bleed out, or get eaten by one of Pandora’s wildlife. Whichever came first. All you had to do to retrace the other Vault Hunters steps was follow the trail of dead bodies. The corpse of The Warrior lay half submerged in the lava.

“You could have let her go. You  _ should _ have let her go.” there was no emotion in your voice as you sat in front of the man, hands resting on your knees.The former CEO simply stared at you bitterly. His mask had been taken by the Vault Hunters, the mark of the vault in plain sight. He remained silent, even as he bled to death only feet away from an Anshin hypo. You stayed there until the Rakk’s began to circle overhead.


End file.
